The Staircase

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight charts the Guinness brewing dynasty's warring heirs in 1868 Dublin. Streaming on Netflix.

Two half brothers (same father) begin their relationship by hating each other but bond and become best friends through teamwork and learning the truth about their father. Lucas Scott is played by Chad Michael Murray (House of Wax, Home of the Brave) who is recruited onto the basketball team by Coach Durham (played by Barry Corbin from Urban Cowboy & Monte Walsh). Lucas proves to be a talented player and starts out as a rival of his own half brother, Nathan Scott (James Lafferty from A Season on the Brink & Get Real). But soon the brothers learn to care for and respect each other while finding out their father Dan Scott (Paul Johansson from The Drew Carey Show & The District) is the natural father of Lucas yet he never claimed to be. As in real life, the characters on One Tree Hill have their ups and downs relationship wise and when they make mistakes they must pay for them somehow. Each season brings up more interesting reflections on family and life in high school, college, and ultimately after they have become adults proving we all need time to reflect on what we want in our lives.

It seems like NBC decided not to give up with paranormal things in 2012. After the cancelation of Awake and realizing that Smash is not going to be a great hit, they decided to launch brand new supernatural-paranormal medical drama with far not first two-word gerund/noun title Saving Hope. But please, don't expect it to be a kind of chimera with mixed DNA of Saving Grace and Rising Hope. Not even close. To describe what Saving Hope is. Let's begin with the "complication" of the plot: two nice people are snuggling inside the wedding cab which is suddenly gets struck by the car. We see as the wedding couple acts absolutely professionally saving the life of the driver by using only medical equipment they have: a pair of common scissors and a tampon. This act of help reveals the newlyweds as the good doctors exactly that they are. The groom is Dr. Charles Harris (Michael Shanks) and the bride is Alex Reid (Erica Durance). However, the situation is getting worse after Alex realizes what a whack in the head Charles got during the accident. Shortly the traumatic brain injury sends Dr. Charles Harris to the hospital bed with the coma diagnosis instead of the honeymoon. As a side effect he receives a supernatural power to walk unseen and unheard between his former colleagues and patients. During his trips he immerses himself deep into the emotions of dying people and doctors trying to save them. He attempts to help both of them using his paranormal gift (which reminds us the CBS' Gifted Man). Charles also trying to get in touch with his ex-fiancee Alex, but all of these attempts fail frightening her almost to death. On the other hand Alex is trying to struggle for saving Charles' life, while he is in coma, but day after the day, she realizes the unfortunate futility of her attempts.

Emily VanCamp, who was previously seen on ABC's Brothers & Sister now gets far more serious and sinister as she moves to the Hamptons seeking Revenge for wrongs committed on her family. The close knit community welcomes her but has no idea what she intends to do while getting her Revenge. The concept comes loosely from an Alexandre Dumas novel titled The Count of Monte Cristo and revenge is something most of us have wanted as some point. Other stars of Revenge include Madeleine Stowe (Unlawful Entry, Twelve Monkeys) as Victoria Grayson, Gabriel Mann (The Thacker Case, Dark Streets) as Nolan Ross, and Henry Czerny (Clear and Present Danger, The Pink Panther) is Conrad Grayson. Exacting Revenge can be dangerous but also rewarding and we will enjoy following along each week as Emily Thorne gets even with those who shaped her future ever since her childhood. She finds plenty of "skeletons in the closet" of the rich and powerful living in the Hamptons and does not want to forgive any of them. She will get her revenge one way or another!

The 2022 STARZ series Dangerous Liaisons is available to buy on Prime Video in the U.S.; no current subscription stream is confirmed.

Based on the Italian fifteenth century Borgia dynasty, the made for the Showtime network series titled The Borgias follows Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons) rise to power and the Papacy. Called the original crime family, the Borgias amassed great wealth, influence, and power as family patriarch Rodrigo committed nearly every sin imaginable as he gained power and vast wealth. Such successors as The Godfather (Mario Puzo) and The Prince (Niccolò Machiavelli) were inspired by the original "bad family" the Borgias and made for entertaining viewing. But the originals were greedy evil people who had no morals. It is at the height of the Renaissance period that we find the Borgia family intriguing to watch and perhaps learn from. Besides Jeremy Irons there are many fine actors in the cast including Francois Arnaud as Cesare Borgia, Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia, David Oakes as Juan Borgia, and Derek Jacobi portraying Cardinal Orsini. Look for this entertaining television series and see the original "Godfathers of crime".